School Well-being Gardens and Cabin - East Finchley, N2
The Archer Garden and Green Arrow Garden Association (GAGA)
In 2021, I oversaw a Grange Big Local funded project 'The Archer Garden' a project which flourished as we came out of lockdown helping families reconnect with each other again. Given free rein to develop a school wellbeing garden I could never have guessed that I would still involved with this project today! The project allowed me to combine my love of design, gardening and community. Using commercial contacts, professional knowledge, a resourceful nature, good humour and an incredible team of volunteers...The Green Arrows...we created this very special school resource. So many unexpected things emerged from this project giving me an amazing opportunity to help empower others to learn to build, recycle and re-imagine. Our gardens now include a volunteer built cabin, a memorial water Garden, potter wheel and an ice cream bike!
The gardens are used to support well-being within the school as a space where children can connect with nature, take time out, receive mentoring one on one or in small groups. A very powerful project which has created a movement of people all supporting the school, each other, the natural world and community. Proud to be a Green Arrow! Take a look at our journey ...
Thanks to carpenters Derek and Moira who built this with our donated reclaimed scaffold boards. Teamwork bought it all together.
Main garden two years on and its starting to fill out. Large workbenches made from scaffold boards and salvaged science tables give the children and volunteers great spaces to create!
Its all about enabling and inspiring - The cabin frame was built by pros but the volunteers took over to insulate, clad and fit out. External Wayne edge cladding was used to introduce a rustic material in an urban city environment.
Thanks to a local scaffolder the interior walls look great!
Firmly believe the best way to lead is from the front! Setting the steels in concrete to create retaining walls.
Sometimes man power is not enough so in came the diggers to create two terraces.
Forming upper and lower terraces in the back gardens
All you need sometimes is a little help from your friends!
Our cabin makes the gardens useable throughout the year. Key to get the gardens fully integrated into the school every-day
Upper School garden - A wet day to turn on the pumps and see if the stream actually worked!